Blue and White Vision Council

Blue and White Vision Council

Two groups playing an integral role in finding Penn State’s next president now have an important document to assist in the effort. Today (May 2) members of the 13-member Trustee Presidential Selection Council and the 18-member University Presidential Search and Screen Committee received “A Vision for Penn State: A Report of the Blue and White Vision Council.” The report, available at http://www.psu.edu/trustees/bwvc_report.pdf, will help inform the search as well as provide any candidates with a unique perspective.

A Stanford researcher sees 10 universities surviving in the world 50 years from now. An expert in disruptive innovation sees a "fundamental breaking of the business model" in higher education. In urging change as technology capabilities in education evolve, another expert warns that "stasis doesn't look like stability, it's a slow decline."

Participants shared some sobering insight and statistics Jan. 19 at a special symposium titled "Planning for a New Higher Education Ecosystem," but also discussed how Penn State can be nimble in changing times and be one of those 10 surviving institutions, if the prediction is correct from Sebastian Thrun, Stanford professor and founder of free online educator Udacity.

The Blue and White Vision Council organized the event at The Nittany Lion Inn. The recently formed, 24-member panel aims to identify key strategic challenges and opportunities facing Penn State in the next five to 10 years. A previous story on the council's Jan. 19 seminar can be found at http://live.psu.edu/story/63735 online.

The group tasked with envisioning a path for Penn State in the coming years received a day's worth of input Jan. 19, as leaders from throughout the University pondered the future and got a glimpse of a changing educational landscape, courtesy of renowned experts.

Titled "Planning for a New Higher Education Ecosystem," the recently formed Blue and White Vision Council's seminar at the Nittany Lion Inn included extensive talk about how the University must be nimble in the area of technology, and how the World Campus has given Penn State a stable foothold amid rapid breakthroughs in online learning that are gaining national attention, like in the case of massive open online courses, or MOOCs.

Penn State today (Nov. 16) announced members of its Blue and White Vision Council, which is expected to identify key strategic challenges and opportunities facing the University over the next several years.

The council, previously announced by Board of Trustees Chairman Karen Peetz at a special meeting of the Board in August, is composed of student, faculty, staff, academic and campus leadership, as well as representatives from Penn State Hershey Medical Center and the Board of Trustees.